Problem: Express this quotient in scientific notation: ${\frac{2.920\times 10^{5}} {4.0\times 10^{0}}}$
Start by collecting like terms together. $= {\frac{2.920} {4.0}} \times{\frac{10^{5}} {10^{0}}}$ Then divide each term separately. When dividing exponents with the same base, subtract their powers. $= 0.73 \times 10^{5\,-\,0}$ $= 0.73 \times 10^{5}$ To write the answer correctly in scientific notation, the first number needs to be between $1$ and $10$ . In this case, we need to move the decimal one position to the right without changing the value of our answer. $ $ We can use the fact that $0.73$ is the same as $7.30 \div 10$ , or $7.30 \times 10^{-1}$ $ = {7.30 \times 10^{-1}} \times 10^{5} $ $= 7.30\times 10^{4}$